08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Burlington's annual Sakura Festival celebrates cherry blossoms, twinning
Burlington's annual Sakura Festival celebrates the blooming of local cherry blossom trees and the 36th anniversary of the city's twinning with Itabashi, Japan.
The festival is a free event hosted by the Burlington Mundialization Committee at
Burlington Performing Arts Centre
on Saturday, May 10 from 1 to 3:30 p.m.
Sakuramai Toronto, shown here at a previous Burlington Sakura Festival, performs at this year's free event at Burlington Performing Arts Centre.
Saturday's
festival features a variety of cultural demonstrations and performances
including:
Cherry blossom trees are located at Spencer Smith Park for visitors to participate in the tradition of Hanami — the Japanese term for flower viewing. Called Sakura in Japan, the cherry blossom trees normally bloom from late April to early May.
The trees were a gift from Itabashi's Kan Nakazawa, an honorary citizen of Burlington, marking the twinning's 20th anniversary in 2009.
Visitors are asked not to climb on the trees, pull their branches or pluck their blooms as the trees might be damaged.
More information on the history of the relationship between Itabashi and Burlington can be found in
a publication from the 30
th
anniversary
celebration and on
the city's website
.
